4 Creative Ways to Use Tumblr for Business

Tumblr is becoming an increasingly important space for getting your brand noticed. Although you may have built a social media presence on influential sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, Tumblr is still a valuable addition to your social media strategy. Particularly for small businesses, Tumblr offers an inexpensive way to build a custom domain.

Why is Tumblr different from other social sites? While Facebook may act as a place to keep up with friends and LinkedIn connects you to colleagues, Tumblr is completely focused on public self-expression. Tumblr pages include an amalgam of photographs, videos, songs, cartoons, jokes, quotes and questions. Businesses can use these tools to express the ideas that drive the brand on a deeper level.

Making your brand stand out on Tumblr is a tough marketing issue. With more than 86 million pages, visitors to Tumblr are bombarded with a never-ending stream of possibilities, so making your page immediately memorable is crucial. Attitude and edginess are key qualities on the Tumblr pages that enjoy raging success. In order to achieve popularity on Tumblr, your company must develop a strategic plan that is entirely focused on reaching your Tumblr goals.

As a part of this plan, you must consider what kind of site you wish to present. Choosing a niche as well as a creative philosophy is an enormous part of developing your company’s reputation on Tumblr. Businesses employ a number of fascinating strategies to make their Tumblr pages stand out. Four of the creative blog styles that seem to be favored by businesses are offering instruction, focusing on multimedia, engaging visually and presenting customer discounts.

Instructional Posts

Although much of Tumblr is devoted to visual imagery, many businesses have developed ways to engage the intellect of viewers. Tumblr creates a space where businesses can blend images and text to present helpful information.

One example of a company that effectively incorporates instructional posts into their Tumblr page is Dark Rye, which is the online magazine run by Whole Foods Market. Although a grocery store seems like a strange business to have a presence on Tumblr, Dark Rye proves that Tumblr is a highly efficient way to communicate with consumers and offer practical tips on how to use the goods they purchase at Whole Foods. Dark Rye’s Tumblr is a blend of recipes, posts about organic foods, inspirational photos, and instructions on practical skills like starting a campfire.

Multimedia Blogs

Many businesses expand on the visual focus of Tumblr by incorporating elements of audio and video. These components form an extra level of engagement with viewers. One company that is especially successful in converting its brand to Tumblr-form through multimedia is Fresh Air, one of NPR’s popular radio shows. Since Tumblr is such a visual medium, it seems counter-intuitive that a purely audio form of communication could transform into a Tumblr page, but Fresh Air delivers a refreshingly intellectual form of Tumblr. Fresh Air offers visitors a collection of images, videos, and short text to illustrate recent shows, as well as short teaser audio clips.

Visually Oriented Pages

Since images are the prime currency of Tumblr, fashion brands tend to do particularly well in Tumblr format. However, simply posting photos is not enough to get attention on Tumblr. Fashion companies that present a creative twist along with their images are remarkably popular. For instance, ModCloth utilizes a Tumblr theme that allows visitors to customize the page they are viewing. Another example comes from Elle Magazine. Elle uses stunning photos and insightful captions to present the latest trends and fashion moments. A notably unusual page is that of the Oscar PR Girl, which features the behind-the-scenes musings and inspiration of a young woman working in the PR department of the famous fashion house.

Discount Sites

Certain companies have begun to utilize the potential of Tumblr as a source for spreading the news of their discounts and coupons. The most successful example of this tactic is Kmart. Its Tumblr page is solely devoted to sharing current coupons and discounts, allowing visitors to the site a quick way to assess the current offerings.

Whatever strategy you choose for your company, the most important aspect is to develop a plan that demonstrates why your brand is unique.

About the Author

Amie Marse, is the founder and managing partner of Content Equals Money, a content writing service for agencies and Web-based clients.